Thanksgiving and giving thanks

I love holidays. I love making fun and exciting foods. I love been near family, talking, joking, playing games and all the other good stuff that comes from being surrounded by the people you love. Yes, they can be stressful times as well but only if you let small things pester and annoy. I am trying harder each year to focus on the good parts of holidays and so "oh well" when those small pests try and ruin good times and relationships.

We enjoyed 2 dinners again this year. First up was with the Watterson's, who I am pretty sure have never started a Thanksgiving dinner at the time they say, ever. Regardless, they are tons of fun. Jake's cousins hosted again this year and held, what will probably be a tradition from now on, a dessert contest. Luckily for us living so far away and generally staying with family for the holidays, we generally receive easy assignments. Because of that, we try to make up for it with dessert. For that reason, we won the dessert contest this year. However, in the 2 years we've had the contest, both our desserts were more Christmasy because of peppermint flavor but who cares, right?

Watterson dinners are just like the ones I grew up with so its easy for me to feel at home and comfortable. There are lots of people and most of them are talking. Plenty of conversations going on and plenty of good food to go along with it.

I am so grateful to have married into such a great family, who enjoys spending time together and who tries to do it often. They always try to be the best support and offer such great help to us.

After winning the dessert competition, we packed up and headed down to spend some time with my family. We had been invited to eat with my uncle (dad's brother), his family, my family, and my dad's sister's family. My girls love going to their house. They have 2 different kids play areas tucked underneath stairs with toys to spare and a dog. Sammi enjoys smaller animals but Ellie loves all animals, big or small.

We arrived shortly after dinner had started but because we had just eaten we mostly just snacked. The girls took off and played without eating. After everything was cleaned up, we played a few rounds of Telestrations and then ate dessert. We have a traditional family dessert; steamed chocolate pudding with a sweet cream sauce. It has a different taste and texture so isn't always popular. Sammi loves it though.

About this time, things start to take on a surreal feeling in my memory. I don't remember how much time passed or even what I was doing at the exact moment when it happened. I remember sitting in a chair, watching the kids play with the dog, a golden lab. I remember a vague sense of knowing I am surrounded by family. I look up to see Ellie kneeling on the ground and reach up to give the dog a hug around the neck. Without warning, the dog turns, bites down on Ellie's cheek, and starts to shake his head back and forth. In what seems like both seconds and minutes, the dog has released her, she is in my arms, my aunt is holding her hand to Ellie's cheek walking with me out the door. Jake has run to the car, my sister has grabbed a fresh, damp wash cloth to cover her cheek, and we jump into the car to rush to the hospital. Jake is about as panicked as a worried parent can be, however I feel as though I am in a daze. Ellie sits in my lap almost in hysterics.

As we drive, I ask Ellie if we can say a prayer. I begin to pray; asking for safe passage to the hospital, asking for a calm reassurance over us and the hospital, asking for comfort for our families, etc. During the prayer, Ellie quiets down and sits calmly in my lap. We arrive a few short minutes later as the hospital isn't very far. I walk in with Ellie as Jake parks and we are immediately taken back. Amazingly, there isn't another person in the ER waiting room.

I won't detail too much more. My parents showed up to the hospital little bit later. Jake and my dad gave Ellie a blessing and then my parents left to take Sammi to their house. Ellie ended up with at least 20 visible stitches on her face. After the prayer, the only time she cried or acted scared was when they put in and took out the IV. She was laughing and giggling by the time we arrived back to my parents' house and making jokes about how funny she talked (they had put her completely under and deadened the cheek while placing the stitches). Four days later, the plastic surgeon removed the stitches.

Through all of this, I haven't felt angry, annoyed, or upset with the dog or anyone in my uncle's family. Mostly I have felt grateful for all that I have learned and sometimes sad knowing the pain and sadness other feeling knowing Ellie had to go through this. Ellie still loves dogs, has petted several large ones, and even still asked for one for Christmas (however my sister's kids who witnessed this removed dogs from their lists). She is a little jumpy if a larger dog startles her or one jumps a little too quickly without warning towards her face but she still loves to scratch, pet, and give loves to just about any dog that she sees.

I feel I am a little closer to my uncle, aunt, and cousins and in subsequent conversations have learned that they feel like they have received blessings, learned new lessons, or gained something of spiritual nature from this experience. I share the same feeling. I hope as I share a few things I learned, I can explain them well and hope you can recognize the same things in your life.

Ellie, and almost all children, act and react to situations based on how adults treat them or react to those same situations. The day after this happened, Ellie wanted to come with me to a wedding shower. She had a giant bandage on her face to protect the stitches. I was worried how she would react when people asked what happened because we hadn't really discussed with her what happened, I wasn't sure what she remembered, and I had barely slept the previous night for every time I closed my eyes I saw the dog turn on her again and again. I also wasn't sure how she would feel as people looked at her cheek instead of her eyes or any other part of her face. As we walked, I tried to prepare her and talk with her about what people might do or say. She told me she knew what happened and understood that people would ask questions. The first person we see stops and asks what happened. Ellie glanced at me for reassurance so I nodded at her and she tells them she was bit on the face by a dog. It was so matter of fact and so brave. She still tells anyone who asks and she doesn't seem bothered when people are curious and want a closer look. She bases the way she acts on the way Jake or I react to how people ask or treat her. I realized that she has a greater understanding of who she is than I did from about age 8 until almost 20.  

This experience has also reinforced what I have recently started to figure out about God's plan. Enveloped in God's all encompassing plan are individual plans for each of us that are interconnected. Sometimes we experience trials because they are for us. Sometimes others experience trials so that we may learn from them. Although Ellie, me, Jake, my family, my uncle's family all have had to go through this, each of us have something to learn and to gain. Its hurts a little to know she experienced this but I know that both she and I would choose to go through this experience again, feel the pain and fear and anything else that happens because of this experience if we knew and understood what benefits, lessons, and blessings it would bring to all the people involved. If given the choice, Ellie would sacrifice and do this over and over again just so others could learn and grow and become better. Because she is that kind of girl and she has that kind of love for others. I have gained greater insight to what the Savior must feel for us because of this trial.

I am grateful to Heavenly Father for answered prayers. Our prayers wouldn't be able to change this experience or make it so it never happened but because of faith and prayers, those involved have been able to move past this experience, learn something they may have never learned any other way, and Ellie's cheek is healing faster and better than I could have imagined. She may or may not have scars, but I hope that either way all of us will remember the things we learned because of her trial to which we were all witnesses.

Gratitude at Thanksgiving

I know I am behind. Tis the season, right? Also, I have been working really hard at trying to feel gratitude for my life and what I have and lately some days have been easier than others. Then as we were setting up Christmas, I found this written by my grandfather Thanksgiving of 1968. I thought it appropriate to share.

GRATITUDE AT THANKSGIVING

By Lee Franklin Gledhill

Gratitude is the name for a feeling or an emotion. If a person is filled with gratitude, the implication is that he has received something of worth; something that has been proffered voluntarily and has been proffered beyond obligation. 

In this month of all months we speak of gratitude and somehow feel that by speaking the word, expressing the feeling, we have discharged a responsibility and brought into balance our debt for all that has been gathered unto us.

We might enumerate in the following manner the gifts we have received:

We have Life because parents sacrificed, suffered, surmounted problems.

We have Salvation because there was One who was the Light of the World and others followed the Light.

We have Plenty because men tilled the soil; because others risked their security, and because still others have erected machine and edifices.

We have Homes because of the tenderness of mother's love, the fierceness of father's efforts, the cooperation in human aspirations.

We have Learning because there was faith and dissatisfaction and longing.

These thing we have and with then, hopefully, Gratitude.  These gifts, received with gratitude, give joy to the present and great promise of fulfillment in the lives of our children and grandchildren. 

But gratitude is more than just enumeration.

If a person has true gratitude, he is placed in a very special position in relation to the donor.  He obligates himself to give thanks to his God and to those of his fellow men who thrust the gifts upon him. He pledges to hold closely the gifts, nurture them, polish them brightly, and share them with those along the way. 

But most of all he dedicates himself not to the enjoyment of the gifts, but to the assurance that the gifts will always be available to his fellow man tomorrow and in the calendar pages yet unturned. 

Thank you Grandpa for taking the time to share your thoughts so that we may enjoy them and learn from them all these years later. 

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. My mom's side of the family has gotten to the point where its too hard to meet in one home or even find a time on Thanksgiving Day when all of us can get together. So we dinner the Saturday before. I love it. So many people, most of us are grown and of marrying aging (although some not married) and plenty of kids. If you don't keep track of the kids, they really sneak up on you. Most of the family showed and the food was delicious.

On Thanksgiving, we had 2 meals; one with Jake's family and then my sister decided to try cooking her first turkey (I haven't even done that.) The meals were spread apart just perfectly that if you eat good portions you weren't too full.

Jake's family is an extended family meal so there were a lot of people there. The kids had a blast playing with cousins and second cousins and of course the adults ignored them as much as possible so that they could have fun and we could relax and talk. Isn't that what family is all about?

After all that and a few other activities, we drove down to my sister's place for dinner. Her future in-laws we there as well a some extra family; Grandma Bonnie and our cousin on my dad's side. After eating, the kids made a "spook alley" for a bit and then had a dance party. It was quite funny.

A few days after, Ellie was talking about all the food and Thanksgiving meals we ate. She informed me that if we ate 20 Thanksgiving dinners we would have to go to the doctor's and he would have to get a long stick to take out some of the food so our belly's wouldn't be so big. Ha ha. I love kids.

Black Friday (Duh, duh, dun)

As some of you know, I don't go out shopping the morning after Thanksgiving (so affectionately known as Black Friday).  I don't care how much potential money you can save. That is because for 5 years of my life, I worked the morning shift of every day after Thanksgiving. Three of those times, I was a manager. Because of some of my experiences, I have a great hatred for that day and the things people do in order to buy gifts I am positive they really don't need or their kids don't need. (I won't get on my soapbox about Holiday shopping and how it really seems to take away my Christmas spirit or how crappy customer service seems to be lately.)

In the past year or 2, I have started going out in the afternoon to do shopping on Black Friday.  Some places still have decent deals going on.  After Ellie's morning nap, we took off for the valley again to meet up with Annie, Stef and Jeff.  Luckily my favorite kids clothing store was having an additional 25% off sale that day. After shopping for 2-3 hours, Ellie was becoming a little bored.

Jeff was watching her while I was looking around the store.  He blocked her in the display window and let her enjoy herself.  This is what I saw.

This is Ellie trying to do ballet.

After a while she was just plum tired. We left shortly after this. I stopped and bought her chicken nuggets from Chic-a-fila (which she loves). She ate 5 of the nuggets, half a kids french fry, and drank half the lemonade. I guess she was hungry too.

When we got home, she did one of her favorite things; chased the family pet around.  Unfortunately she found Tippy (yes, the male cat's name is Tippy Coconut) in the bath tub. She pinned him there for a few minutes trying to pet him.

Thanks for being such a good cat Tippy.

Thanksgiving Activities

I guess I just figured since I had posted so much in the past little bit that I would give everyone a break.  Actually, we have been in Utah visiting family for the holidays. We left Colorado just before the big storms. For the week of Thanksgiving, we stayed at Jake's parent's house.  Marc, Cassie, and Becca live in the basement so Ellie had a cousin to play with at the house.

After a spaghetti dinner, the girls needed to be cleaned. (Isn't this classic? Who doesn't have a picture like this?)

 Ellie kept splashing Becca, which she didn't like very much.

 One night we went and played at Kristine's house while Daddy and Rob were working in Idaho.  Ellie loved hanging with her cousins.

Later that week, we were back playing at Rob and Kristine's. They have hard wood floors and Ellie figured out that she could slide every where on her stomach. So Uncle Rob tried something else.

We went to Grandma Wendy and Poppy DeVon's for dinner and Ellie enjoyed some ice cream for dessert.

 Braden is learning to use utensils while feeding himself. He really liked dessert too.

Thanksgiving was a fun, but busy day. Our first stop was the Watterson Dinner.  Luckily Mother Nature allowed the snow to stay off for a bit so the drive down the canyon and down to Alpine wasn't bad. Ellie enjoyed some delicious turkey dinner and then wanted to run around with the rest of the kids. Unfortunately the house we were at wasn't Ellie proof so she helped Grandma Connie clean the beaters after making whipped cream.

 She wasn't sure about it at first, but as you can see she really enjoyed them after giving the cream a sample.

Can I have some more?

Next we drove up to the Jensen dinner at my Uncle Russ's house. There weren't as many people there as in the past. Although this was a little odd, it was nice in one way.  The house was about 70% quieter.

After stuffing ourselves again (including Ellie which I found out later that she had eaten another meal at Uncle Russ's place), we took off back to Wanship. I feel that it was a very successful Thanksgiving.

This one was especially nice since we weren't sure at first if we would be making it back from Denver since Jake's finals weren't until after Thanksgiving. I am extremely thankful for larger families who are close and have a good time together. I always feel like I can eat extra at Thanksgiving because we always spend so much time laughing when we all get together. We have such a good time and hear such great stories from family we don't get to see that often.

This year we gave thanks for snow (sometimes anything wet in Utah is a good thing). I have also been grateful for all the blessings Jake and I have received in our move and while living in Denver.